Safeguarding experts demand national action plan to tackle child sexual abuse

A national child safeguarding practice review has investigated the experiences of 193 children who were sexually abused by a family member.

The report reveals that safeguarding agencies were not equipped with the skills and support to listen, hear and protect these children from horrific abuse. It recommends the government urgently puts in place a national action plan to protect and support children at risk.

The independent review looked at 136 child safeguarding incidents – the most serious cases of abuse and neglect – and found over 75% of the children sexually abused by a family member were under the age of 12.

The report reveals a system in which children are all too often ignored or disbelieved, do not receive the protection they need and in which the risk posed by adults within the family is frequently misunderstood or minimised. Importantly practitioners from all agencies lack the support, confidence and guidance required to intervene effectively to help and protect children.

Over a third of incidents featured a family member with a known history of sexual offending or who was known to present some risk of sexual harm. This included convicted sex offenders and family members who had been previously prosecuted for sexual abuse, including rape, moving into a home with young children without a strong risk assessment.

In order to combat this, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel is urging the government to develop a national action plan which should include:

• Reviewing and updating initial training, early career and ongoing professional development and supervision, so that practitioners can fulfil their roles and responsibilities in identifying and responding to child sexual abuse.
• Ensuring that criminal justice and safeguarding agencies work together so there is robust assessment and management of people who present a risk of sexual harm and who have contact with children.
• Implementing a national pathway which provides a clear process to support practitioners from when concerns are first identified through to investigation, assessment and the provision of help.
• Instructing inspectorates to undertake a “Joint Targeted Area Inspection” focusing on multi-agency responses to child sexual abuse in the family environment.

The findings of the review also highlighted the long-term impact of child sexual abuse on victims. In several of the serious incidents reviewed, children had self-harmed, been diagnosed with depression or had begun misusing substances or alcohol. Seven children tragically took their own lives, and ten children were known to have become pregnant as a result of the sexual abuse, with the youngest being just 11-years-old at the time.

As part of the government’s mission to make sure all children have a chance to succeed in life, no matter their background, there must be support for children who have been sexually abused by a family member so they can recover and thrive. The recently announced reforms in the government’s paper ‘Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive’ are an important step in the right direction, but it is vital that the findings and recommendations from this national review are all taken forward within the government’s reform strategy.

To help victims and survivors, their families, or professionals find support, the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) has created a directory containing over 350 child sexual abuse support services in England and Wales. The Support Services Directory is a simple way to find services that can help.

Panel Chair, Annie Hudson said: “The voices and experiences of the 193 children at the heart of this report make very plain that too often we fail to identify and act to protect children from sexual abuse in their families.

“In recent years, very necessary attention has rightly been given to the sexual abuse of children in public institutions, by strangers on the internet and by ‘high profile’ individuals. The uncomfortable truth is that very many children are sexually abused by someone they know well and in their own home. This report seeks to shine a light on the many barriers to giving children the help and protection they need when they are abused within their families.

“We need to build a more child-centred system that recognises the barriers preventing children from speaking about abuse and where all agencies can act confidently and sensitively to safeguard children.

“The government’s recent policy paper outlines a swathe of reforms to children’s social care, including plans to implement the Panel’s previous recommendation for multi-agency child protection teams. The establishment of such teams will provide a strong basis for securing some the crucial improvements identified in this report, including timely sharing of information, and a more sensitive and coherent response to children who are sexually abused in their families.

“The systemic issues identified in this report are long-standing. It is vital therefore that government integrates the findings from this review into their reform programme and provides strong leadership to deliver a robust strategy to address its stark reality of child sexual abuse in the family environment.”

Ian Dean (pictured), Director of the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse said:”Children need help to tell, and it’s vital that all professionals are given the knowledge and skills to notice when something is wrong, and the confidence to talk directly to children and families about concerns of sexual abuse.

“Despite a wealth of wider training, most practitioners working with children across social work, policing, education and health won’t even get a single day of training focused on child sexual abuse before qualifying. This review shows that this is clearly failing to properly equip the workforce to identify concerns and respond to protect children from sexual abuse.

“These recommendations set out practical solutions that will help all those working with children feel empowered to act quickly and confidently in response to sexual abuse, and to ensure that children and families are listened to and supported throughout investigations and beyond.

“As part of the government’s ten-year commitment to halving violence against women and girls, we need strong national leadership to put tackling sexual abuse of children firmly on the agenda and these recommendations drive the way for real, lasting, systemic change for children.”

Picture (c) Linkedin.